BILL NUMBER: AB 2159	CHAPTERED  09/18/00

	CHAPTER   460
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 18, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 15, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 29, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 29, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 2, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Robert Pacheco

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 69618.1, 69618.2, and 69618.3 of the
Education Code, relating to student financial aid.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2159, Robert Pacheco.  Student financial aid:  Graduate
Assumption Program of Loans for Education.
   Existing law establishes a Graduate Assumption Program of Loans
for Education, under which an applicant who has completed a
baccalaureate degree program or who is enrolled in an academic
program leading to a graduate level degree, and who agrees, upon
graduation, to teach full-time at a California college or university,
is eligible to receive a conditional warrant for loan assumption, to
be redeemed by the Student Aid Commission when that person has
received a graduate degree from an accredited California institution
and is employed as a full-time teacher at a California college or
university.
   This bill would allow a California resident who attends an
eligible school or college outside the state, a person enrolled in an
academic program leading to a baccalaureate level degree, and a
person who is enrolled in an academic program on at least a half-time
basis, to be an applicant for the Graduate Assumption Program of
Loans for Education.  The bill would specify that a program
participant who teaches on less than a full-time basis may qualify
for prescribed levels of loan assumption by teaching for periods that
are equivalent to specified periods of full-time teaching.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 69618.1 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
   69618.1.  (a) Program participants shall meet all of the following
eligibility criteria prior to selection in the program and shall
continue to meet these criteria, as appropriate, during the payment
periods:
   (1) The participant shall be a United States citizen or eligible
noncitizen.
   (2) The participant shall be a California resident attending an
eligible school or college.
   (3) The participant shall be making satisfactory academic
progress.
   (4) The participant shall have complied with United States
Selective Service requirements.
   (5) The participant shall not owe a refund on any state or federal
educational grant or have delinquent or defaulted student loans.
   (b) Any person enrolled in an institution of postsecondary
education and participating in the loan assumption program set forth
in this article may be eligible to receive a conditional warrant for
loan assumption, to be redeemed pursuant to Section 69618.2 upon
becoming employed as a full-time faculty member at a California
college or university or the equivalent of full-time service as a
faculty member employed part-time at two or more California colleges
or universities.
   (c) (1) The commission shall award warrants to students with
demonstrated academic ability and financial need, as determined by
the commission pursuant to Article 1.5 (commencing with Section
69503).
   (2) The applicant shall have completed a baccalaureate degree
program or be enrolled in an academic program leading to a
baccalaureate level or a graduate level degree.
   (3) The applicant shall be currently enrolled in or admitted to a
program in which he or she will be enrolled on at least a half-time
basis each academic term as defined by an eligible institution.  The
applicant shall agree to maintain satisfactory academic progress.
   (4) The applicant shall have been judged by his or her
postsecondary institution to have outstanding ability on the basis of
criteria that may include, but need not be limited to, any of the
following:
   (A) Grade point average.
   (B) Test scores.
   (C) Faculty evaluations.
   (D) Interviews.
   (E) Other recommendations.
   (5) In order to meet the costs of obtaining a graduate degree, the
applicant shall have received, or be approved to receive, a loan
under one or more of the following designated loan programs:
   (A) The Federal Family Education Loan Program (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1071
et seq.).
   (B) Any loan program approved by the commission.
   (6) The applicant shall have agreed to teach on a full-time basis
at one or more accredited California colleges or universities for at
least three consecutive years after obtaining a graduate degree.
   (7) An applicant who teaches on less than a full-time basis may
participate in the program, but is not eligible for loan repayment
until that person teaches for the equivalent of a full-time academic
year.
   (d) A person participating in the program pursuant to this section
shall not receive more than one warrant.
  SEC. 2.  Section 69618.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   69618.2.  The commission shall redeem an applicant's warrant and
commence loan assumption payments as specified in Section 69618.3
upon verification that the applicant has fulfilled all of the
following:
   (a) The applicant has received a graduate degree from an
accredited, participating institution.
   (b) The applicant has provided the equivalent of full-time
instruction at one or more regionally accredited California colleges
or universities for one academic year or the equivalent.
   (c) The applicant has met the requirements of the warrant and all
other conditions of this article.
  SEC. 3.  Section 69618.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   69618.3.  The terms of the loan assumptions granted under this
article shall be as follows, subject to the specific terms of each
warrant:
   (a) After a program participant has completed one academic year,
or the equivalent of full-time teaching, at one or more regionally
accredited, eligible California colleges or universities, the Student
Aid Commission shall assume up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) of
the participant's outstanding liability under one or more of the
designated loan programs.  The initial year of eligible teaching
shall begin within 10 years of receiving an initial conditional
warrant from the commission.
   (b) After the program participant has completed two consecutive
academic years, or the equivalent of full-time teaching, at one or
more regionally accredited California colleges or universities, the
commission shall assume up to an additional two thousand dollars
($2,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or more
of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption of up
to four thousand dollars ($4,000).
   (c) After a program participant has completed three consecutive
academic years, or the equivalent of full-time teaching, at one or
more regionally accredited California colleges or universities, the
commission shall assume up to an additional two thousand dollars
($2,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or more
of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption of up
to six thousand dollars ($6,000).
